Page 45 of Game Changer
“Neither do I.” He groans, smacking his hand on my nightstand for his phone. “I guarantee I have a million texts from Cameron asking how our conversation went.”
Maddie probably also blew up my phone, but I don’t feel like talking to her about this right now. I don’t want to talk toanyoneabout it. It doesn’t make this real between us if my parents don’t know. At least not in my eyes. First, I need to call my job and find a weekend to take off so I can go home and visit. Then, when my parents hopefully change their minds, I can shout from the rooftops that Ethan is all mine. Until then, this feels like we’re playing house, and I hate that feeling. It makes me want to stay in a bubble with just the two of us. In this room, we’re together, and no outside factors can sway us.
“How about we don’t get on our phones today?” I take the phone out of his hand and lean over to return it to the nightstand. “Let’s spend time together. Enjoyus.” Then I place my lips against his, moaning when he rolls me on top of him and slides his hands down to my ass.
“Fine with me. However, we’ll have to tell them eventually. You know, about what happened. They’ll figure it out if we don’t.”
“I know, but . . .” I sit up to straddle him and trail my fingers down his bare chest, loving that he doesn’t seem to mind me ogling his body the way he did before. He feels comfortable with me, and he should. Ethan doesn’t have a reason to be insecure when he’s so damnhot. “For the first time in my life, you make me want to be selfish. I want to keep you to myself for just a bit longer.”
His grin kicks up a notch. “It’s about time you start thinking about yourself and whatyouwant. We’re supposed to be finding ourselves this year, right?”
“Right. Speaking of finding ourselves, I heard you’re coaching youth football with Mark.”
“I’m not—” Hehuffs a breath, his hands finding my hips. “I don’t know. At first I thought I was helping as a guest, but the more time I spend with the kids, the more I think coaching is something I enjoy doing. I haven’t accepted a position yet or anything, but I was offered one.”
“I think you should do it,” I say. “If it’s something you enjoy, then why not?”
“Because what happens if I fail at this too?” Almost as if he didn’t mean to say that, he scoffs and adds, “Never mind. It’s stupid.”
“It’snotstupid, Ethan. Talk to me.” I grab his hands off my hips and interlace our fingers, squeezing them for encouragement.
“I don’t have the greatest track record, you know? I was good at football, and that didn’t pan out. My anxiety got the best of me, and although I’ve worked really fucking hard to overcome it, I’m worried that going back into the field of football, even if it’s just as a coach, will reignite it again and become a stressor I don’t need. These kids . . . they need guidance. Someone who can dedicate themselves to making their lives better and help them become the athletes they dream of becoming. It’s a lot of pressure. I don’t know if I can handle it.”
Some might view Ethan as weak, but I think his way of thinking is one of his most attractive and strongest qualities. He doesn’t jump into something before he’s fully ready, and I wish I had that much control over my emotions. It makes me confident inusafter last night because I know with complete certainty that Ethan has been thinking about making a move for a while. It’s how he’s wired.
“Everyone keeps pestering me about it,” he continues. “It’s nice knowing my friends think I can do this, but accepting that coaching is what I’m meant to do is life changing. I’d have to change my major and commit to these kids for the rest of the season. I’d have to be a role model for them, so until I’m certain, I won’t take that risk.”
His confession sparks a pang of jealousy inside of me, and maybe it’s because he’s doing what I can’t and contemplating all of these life moves to get to where he wants to be. I’ve thought about where I’d like my life to be if my parents approved of me being a cosmetologist. I’d open up my own salon and maybe even a spa. I’d already be in the process of building my clientele and portfolio.
The difference between Ethan and me is he’s gaining the courage to do something to achieve his dreams whether he sees it or not, and I’ll always be stuck in the same place because the need to please my parents hasalwaysoutweighed my aspirations. Planning to use my business degree to open a salon is one thing, butactingon it is a different story.
“I think you’re brave,” I admit.
He lifts a brow. “How? I haven’t accepted the position yet.”
“But you’re thinking about it, and even if you have aninklingthat coaching is what you’re supposed to do in life, that’s an improvement from where you started, right? You’re already considering the next steps.”
“Guess I’ve never thought about it like that.” His eyes smolder when he dips his eyes down to my legs, which are still straddling him. His sweatshirt has ridden up to sit around my hips, and in seconds, I feel his erection between my thighs. “Enough about the future. We’re enjoyingourselvestoday, and it’d be a crime if I didn’t show you how good you look in my clothes.”
I’ve never been more thankful for a subject change.
“Well, weshouldeat first, considering the strenuous workout we put ourselves through last night, but—”
I squeal when he flips me onto my back and parts my thighs with his knee. Ethan’s body is bulky and dominating, and his thigh is the size of both of mine combined. The sheer force they’re capable of puts a shiver down my spine when I remember how he took me against the bed yesterday, how everything around us seemed to cease the second he slipped inside.
“Oh, I fully intend toeat, Maya.” He grins wickedly before throwing my legs over his shoulders, and then he bends down to give my slit a long lick. “Never say I’m not a morning person again. This is going to be my new favorite morning tradition.”
And after the multiple mind-blowing orgasms he brings me, when he leaves to get us breakfast, I call my job and figure out the soonest weekend I can take off from work. I need to come clean to my parents and convince them that Ethan is what’s best for me. He’s on his way to finding himself, and even though it’s not a profession my parents dreamed about for my partner to have, it’s important to him, and that’s the only thing that matters to me.
If Ethan can be brave, then so can I.
Twenty- three
Ethan
“I’m trying to decide what’s louder.” Leo hums as he sorts through his clothes. A towel is wrapped low around his hips, but no matter how many times I beg for him to change in the showers like a normal human, he claims it draws more attention from the girls in the hall. “A stadium full of fans who just won the Super Bowl or you having sex.”
I snort. “Wow. I’m surprised you even know what the Super Bowlis.”
